What is Yoga?

Particularly in the West, when people think about Yoga, they believe it is a series of physical postures or exercises done with a certain sense of concentration. They associate Hatha Yoga with the entirety of yogic practice, and in many instances, treat Yoga as a form of physical conditioning.

The field of Yoga is, however, something much different, far vaster and more powerful than just physical conditioning. Yoga means 'union' and the object of yoga is the union of the soul with the Divine. Sri Aurobindo has noted that yoga is essentially a form of applied psychology, as it delves into the inner realms, the thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions and reactions of the being and aims to shift the standpoint from that of the external ego personality to one of union with the Divine, with the motive force and power of action derived from that oneness with the divine Force as it manifests.

Once the seeker recognises the deeper aims of Yoga, the perfection of the physical conditioning of the body can no longer be accepted as the entire objective. Sri Aurobindo outlines the aspiration and prayer that the seeker can utilize to succeed in the deeper yogic endeavour.

Sri Aurobindo notes: 

"First aspire and pray to the Mother for quiet in the mind, purity, calm and peace, an awakened consciousness, intensity of devotion, strength and spiritual capacity to face all inner and outer difficulties and go through to the end of the Yoga. If the consciousness awakens and there is devotion and intensity of aspiration, it will be possible for the mind, provided it learns quietude and peace, to grow in knowledge."

- Santosh Krinsky
Institute for Wholistic Education (USA) & Lotus Press (USA)

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, Calm -- Peace -- Equality, pg. 11
 

Comments

  1. Anonymous16 October 2025 at 17:51

    Thanks Santosh,
    I will also add that Haridas Chaudhuri who brought integral yoga to the USA defined yoga as the union of the soul with the Divine, as well harmonization and integration of all parts of personality. This idea of wholeness of personality was also emphasized by Indra Sen, who coined the term "integral psychology" with Sri Aurobindo's consent, and discussed this dimension as something that was missing in traditional yogas to the extent that it can be emphasized in integral yoga and psychology.
    He wrote "Most disciplines of yoga naturally seek these higher qualities of consciousness and therefore attend to the unconscious only to the extent they feel obliged to that is they seek purification of its topmost layer from where experiences do easily surge up to the plane of consciousness and for the rest they are content to take even a general suppressive attitude. However Sri Aurobindo’s pursuit is a complete integration and transformation of consciousness, and therefore, while the superconscious interests him for its wholeness quality and harmonizing function, the unconscious interests him as the vast realm of personality which needs harmonization.
    see https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies/vol37/iss1/10/ for the article

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